American Civil Liberties Union

There has never been a more urgent need to preserve fundamental privacy protections and our system of checks and balances than the need we face today, as illegal government spying, provisions of the Patriot Act and government-sponsored torture programs transcend the bounds of law and our most treasured values in the name of national security.


Military Commissions Act

Freedom Files - Season 2
Ideological Exclusion

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Safe and Free : Legislative Documents

ACLU One Pager on the State Secrets Protection Act of 2007, H.R. 5607 (06/03/2008)

ACLU Letter to House Members Urging Support of the Video Recording of Interrogations Amendment (05/22/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to support the video recording amendment that Representatives Rush Holt, Ellen Tauscher, Raul Grijalva, and Janice Schakowsky will offer during consideration of the defense authorization bill this afternoon.1 The amendment would make an important--and extraordinarily practical--change to Defense Department interrogation practices by requiring the recording and retention of videos of strategic interrogations of persons under the custody or control of the Defense Department. The amendment would bring these interrogations into conformity with recommended best practices for military and law enforcement interrogations, and increase accountability for compliance with the McCain Anti-Torture Amendment and other anti-torture laws.

ACLU Letter to House Appropriations Committee, Intelligence Committee and Leadership Urging Against Funding for Spy Satellites (05/22/2008)

Testimony of Mike German, Policy Counsel with the ACLU, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (05/21/2008)
Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Gohmert, members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you about the treatment of whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I represent the American Civil Liberties Union, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending the Constitution and protecting civil liberties. The ACLU vigorously supports meaningful legal protections for all whistleblowers, but particularly for employees and contractors within the law enforcement and intelligence communities, where abuse and misconduct can have serious and direct effects on our rights and liberties, as well as our security.

FISA: Fear-mongering and What We've Learned Since January (05/14/2008)

Coalition Sign On Letter to Senate Leadership Urging Investigations into US Agencies' Role in Torture (05/12/2008)

Coalition Sign On Letter to House Leadership Urging Investigations into US Agencies' Role in Torture (05/12/2008)

Coalition of Human Rights and Religious Groups Supporting the Army Field Manual Applying to the CIA (05/09/2008)
We are writing to express our strong opposition to the proposal to amend the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act to outlaw only eight techniques specifically prohibited in the U.S. Army Field Manual FM 2-22.3 on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. While the proposal is misleadingly presented as an effort to ban harsh interrogation techniques, its clear purpose is to authorize them. There should be no misunderstanding on this point: the proposal reverses Congress’s recent decision to end torture. It is not a “compromise.”

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